


Proxy

by egosoffire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Porn, F/M, Grief Sex, Grief/Mourning, angsty sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 04:20:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15283512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egosoffire/pseuds/egosoffire
Summary: Bruce and Pepper are both mourning Tony Stark. They comfort each other.





	Proxy

Pepper didn’t know what she was doing. She was mourning, she supposed, and you did stupid things when you were mourning. Of course, logically speaking, she should be celebrating. Just a few months ago, Earth had lost half of its population and  _ everyone  _ was feeling the pain. Things were much better on figures and calculations alone.

Yet, Tony was gone and the grief was going to her head.

That was what she told herself, as she and Bruce Banner sat on the roof of the tower, empty bottle laid out between them. Bruce usually refused to drink, but apparently the end of the world had changed him.

“I’m sorry I dragged you up here,” she whispered, looking at the scientist. Bruce had always worn a world-weary look upon his face, but this time, he just looked crushed. She couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t just the loss of Tony. He had been through things that she couldn’t even fathom. “It’s just he…”

Bruce turned towards her and shook his head. He stood up and leaned over the railing a bit, both hands on the bar. 

“Pepper, no,” he said softly. “I...can we please not talk about Tony right now? I just can’t. I didn’t tell him so much and I just…”

She looked down at her own hands, Tony’s ring still on her finger. She realized what she was seeing.

She stood up and joined Bruce. She was the woman who was going to marry Tony Stark, and Bruce had feelings for him.

“You had feelings for Tony,” she murmured softly. “I’m sorry.”

“I would have never done anything about them,” Bruce said, holding tight to the bar in front of him. He looked beyond her, to the New York skyline -- one which was a mess thanks to the lasting damage of what Thanos had done. “I knew that Tony only had eyes for you. Plus, I’m not made for that kind of thing.”

Pepper sighed and then put an arm around him. His shoulders shook lightly. She laid her head on his left shoulder, trying to be somewhat comforting.

“You have control over the Hulk now,” she said. “You could find that with someone. 

Bruce looked at her for a moment. A small laugh escaped him, then he just looked down. He closed his eyes, swaying a bit. “I haven’t drank that much since I was twenty-three,” Bruce said with a laugh. “Nothing like a tragedy to get you to break your vows to stay sober.” 

“Hey, we’re all alone,” Pepper said, her laugh not nearly as light as she intended it to  be. “I’m not going to judge you, and your secret’s safe with me.”

“I know why he…” Bruce trailed off. He seemed to want to say something, but say it without mentioning Tony. “You’re a special person, Pepper. I think that a lot of people tend to overlook you, but I… I just want to let you know that I’m not overlooking the things that you’ve done.”

Pepper found her face heating up at those words. She had done a lot in the past few months. When Tony was gone for the first time, she had kept Stark Industries afloat nearly single handed. Now, she was the majority owner of the entire entity, and it was...it was so much. She wasn’t going to be humble about that.

“Thank you, Bruce,” she murmured, finding that as sad as she was, as hopeless as the situations seemed, that she felt a bit better with him nearby. She touched his hand, leaned over -- 

Without thinking, she brushed her lips against his, a light kiss, full of gratitude and care. He had made her feel a little better, in spite of the devastating circumstances they were living. Tony was gone, but men like Bruce Banner still existed and that gave the future hope. 

“Pepper, I…”

“I know.”

The kiss that followed was far from a gentle, friendly affair. He wrapped his left arm around her and cupped her cheek with the right. Pepper had never seen Bruce display much confidence, but evidently a little liquid courage on a rough night had gone a long way.

She couldn’t help her own response. Yes, there was that little voice in her head screaming at her that this was wrong, that she shouldn’t do this, but that thought left soon after. Because, she could feel him, body pressed close against her and she let herself want. 

Pepper kissed him deeply, eyes closed. He didn’t kiss like Tony at all. His kiss was softer, less sure, but hot and warm and comforting. 

“I’m sorry...I…”

His apology didn’t really mean anything, because she wanted the kiss, he wanted the kiss, and they were both adults, clearly capable of making their own rational decisions. 

“It’s okay,” she promised, pulling back a bit. She brushed a finger over his lower lip. “There’s nothing wrong with this, Bruce.”

“We both want Tony,” Bruce said, his words cold. “I think that may mean something’s wrong with this.”

Pepper considered it. It wasn’t the most morally sound thing ever to sleep with a man because you wanted your dead fiance, that was true. It was wrong to get with someone as a proxy for the one that you truly wanted.

Yet, she and Bruce had made worse mistakes in their life.

“It’s wrong, but I want it,” she whispered, the words coming off as oddly childish to her. She felt like she might as well be pouting. “I want it so badly Bruce.”

They kissed again, and she felt like he literally swept her off her feet. She swooned a bit against him, letting him press her to the wall.

“FRIDAY, lock the roof access door for me,” she whispered. 

“Yes, Miss Potts.”

She heard the click and closed her eyes. She looked around the roof. There was a cement block pressed against the access door that they could use. She hurried over to it and sat down. “Come here.”

Bruce stepped between her legs and kissed her.

As he kissed her, he pressed up close and she could feel his evident arousal between her legs. It made her feel a bit hotter, her face flushing. “It’s okay,” she promised against his lips, maybe making the promise for both of them. “It’s okay sweetie. It’ll be good for both of us…” 

Bruce nodded at her words. “Yeah, it will be,” he said, kissing her. 

She reached down and touched him, feeling his arousal between them and for some reason that gave her a vague satisfaction. She had been in love with Tony Stark for a decade and it was nice to think of another man desiring her for real. It was a confidence boost, to say the very least. 

The kissing was soft, sweet. It was gentle. Bruce’s entire persona was a gentle, sweet one and it amazed her how he’d managed to stay so kind, in spite of everything that he had seen. 

He lifted up her skirt, his hands soft against her inner thighs. He brushed his fingertips over the skin. “It’s been a very long time,” he whispered. “I never had control like this…”

“Doesn’t matter,” she promised. “It can be fast. It can be whatever you need it to be.”

“I want it to be what you need it to be too,” he said, softly. “Please.”

He slipped her underwear down her legs. He looked in her eyes for a moment, and Pepper could see that she and Bruce both wanted the same two things. They wanted to let biology take over all of the negative things in their minds, and they both wanted Tony Stark. 

“Just fast, quick, please,” she murmured. Bruce couldn’t imagine she was Tony Stark unless he fucked her hard, fast and made everything go black. She felt the same. “Make it better.” 

He kissed her neck, licking a trail over her sweat-soaked skin. He ran his free hand through her hair as he sucked at a spot on her neck that felt like fire. She tangled her hand in his curls.

There wasn’t much time for foreplay, but Bruce’s fingers were pretty skilled for someone who claimed to have not been with anyone in years. He stroked her deftly, feeling her wetness and need. She pressed up against his fingers, as one slipped into her.

“C’mon…” she urged, sounding a bit like an impatient child.

He pulled back and she undid his pants roughly. She was pretty sure she might have popped a button, but neither of them looked down.

“Please,” she whispered, emphasizing the word with a bite to his neck.

Bruce moaned, a surprised sound that was almost cute. He whined and she wrapped her fingers delicately around his length, pulling his cock out and using her other hand to ease his underwear down enough to get the point. She stroked him into full hardness, listening appreciatively to the soft pants and moans of a man who knew how to restrain himself.

“You feel okay?” she whispered, on a stroke. “Safe?”

“Yeah. It’s safe.” Bruce rasped out the words, in a choked up voice. “I promise I got all of that under control…”

“Good,” she said firmly. “Then do it.” 

She let go of him and placed both of her hands on the curve of his neck, stroking at the fine hair there. Bruce shivered, but he did take the initiative. He lifted up her legs and sank down into her, very slowly.

He was delicate, in spite of the desperation. He moved very slowly at first, acting as though he thought he’d hurt her, break her. It was so different than hot nights with Tony.

_ He’s afraid of hurting you,  _ she told herself.  _ So show him it’s okay.  _

She grunted and moved one of her hands to his hips, and looked at him with an imploring gaze. 

“Please,” she whispered. Bruce had to know how desperate she was, because she could feel his desperation. “Please, just move already.”

Letting go of his fear, Bruce began to slowly move, a thrust in and out of her that was too slow, yet deep enough to scratch that burning itch. 

“Mhm yeah, please,” she whispered, still urging him on. 

After a few moments, the sweet man finally got that he wasn’t going to break her. He started a steady rhythm with the same depth, and she closed her eyes, scratching her fingers lightly over his shoulders, spreading her legs to get more of the delicious friction he offered.

She couldn’t help have Tony in her mind. The way that Tony would look into her eyes when he was really turned on. That fire that just burned so deeply, the suave desperation, the playfulness.

Guilt hit her before she realized that Bruce was fucking her with his eyes closed and probably had his own thoughts of Tony there.

“Mhm, yeah,” she whispered again. 

When he came, it was with a nip to her shoulder that was delicious. She could feel the wetness of his release inside of her and could feel herself over the edge.

If she was making comparisons to Tony, he didn’t bring her so close to the edge without his mouth, so that was new. As he came, Bruce let out a gasp and reached between them, thumb stroking at her clit as his other fingers splayed against her skin.

He was a smart man, intuitive, and he knew how to make a woman come without taking much time at all. Which was good, because neither of them wanted to take their time.

He worked her into an orgasm a bit more methodically than Tony might have, but in a skilled way that had her arching up against him. He stayed buried inside of her while she let go, her entire body feeling like an echo, a reverberation on the wall.

It was an echo of what had once been, but it felt so good.

“Oh Bruce,” she whispered. “Thank you, thank you…”

She knew in her heart they were both screaming for Tony, but she was still so thankful.

He kissed her forehead, a gesture that seemed too tender, too sweet, but was nice. 

“Was that okay?” he whispered, slowly pulling out of her. She watched, awkwardly, as he got up and redid his pants. She pulled up her underwear and looked at him, sheepish, nervous, awkward.

“It’s okay,” she promised. It was weird, a little uncomfortable and they’d both used each other as a proxy for the feelings they had for Tony, but it had still been meaningful. She got up and pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him.

He sagged against her.

“It’s all okay.”   



End file.
